Independent commissions have been established in each province to consider the electoral map based on the 2011 census. Thirty new ridings are also being created in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta.
Commissioners, who are appointed by each province's chief justice and the Speaker of the House of Commons, consider geography, history, and population in crafting their proposed boundary changes. Public hearings follow, along with study by a parliamentary committee for any comments and objections.
The final map is provided to the Chief Electoral Officer. The three territories will continue to hold one seat each.
Check this page for updates as the various provincial commissions submit their plans.
THE LEGISLATION
Bill C-20, which was passed in late 2011, adjusted the seat redistribution formula that takes place after each census to give more representation to provinces with growing populations. This meant that Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario stood to gain new MPs (six, six, and 15, respectively). Quebec was also assigned three new seats to maintain a similar level of representation relative to population.
The formula for determining seats has been adjusted several times since Confederation. Notably, no province can have fewer MPs than Senators, and no province can have fewer seats than they had in 1976.
The opposition NDP proposed their own bill to ensure that Quebec's proportion would remain at the same level (24.35 per cent) as 2006, when the Québécois nation resolution passed. Under Bill C-20, Quebec's proportion of seats falls to 23.08 per cent of the House of Commons.
The Liberals, meanwhile, were worried about the transparency of the electoral commissions and how individuals would be appointed. They opposed both the Conservative and NDP bills, calling for a rebalance of the Commons without any additional seats.
Alberta’s commissioners have proposed major changes, including six new seats, readjusted boundaries for all ridings, and a plethora of new names.
Bill C-20 assigned 34 seats to the province, thanks a 22.5-per-cent population jump from 2001 to 2011. That averages to an average quota of 107,213 for each district.
Calgary receives two new seats under the plan. The Edmonton and Red Deer regions receive one, along with one each in northern and southern Alberta.
MAP: Compare the existing and proposed boundaries
Calgary, which has grown by 25 per cent since the 2001 census, would gain one seat in the south and one in the northwest. All current ridings would be renamed except for Calgary Centre and Calgary Nose Hill. Calgary’s eastern region would also be significantly redrawn.
MAP: Calgary
In Edmonton, which grew 22 per cent over the past decade, there would be seven ridings entirely within the city limits and two ridings that are a "hybrid" of urban, suburban, and rural: Edmonton--Wetaskiwin and St. Albert--Edmonton. Like Calgary, nearly all ridings would be renamed. Edmonton currently has five hybrid and three urban ridings. Sherwood Park--Fort Saskatchewan would be created east of the city.
MAP: Edmonton
In the north, Grande Prairie takes in the city of the same name and the surrounding area, reducing the population pressure on the area’s two existing ridings, which includes rapidly-growing Fort McMurray.
Red Deer and environs has been divided into two districts. Wild Rose has been reduced in size and renamed Banff—Airdrie. The two rural ridings in eastern Alberta have been reconfigured and renamed: Lakeland and Battle River. And the area between Calgary and the U.S. border would gain a fourth seat (Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Foothills, and Bow River).
MAP: Alberta
Public hearings are scheduled for Sept. 10-25.
(July 5, 2012)
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B.C.'s six new seats will mostly be found east of Vancouver on both sides of the Fraser River, if the proposed new boundaries are accepted.
The half-dozen additional constituencies will give the province 42 MPs in the House of Commons after the 2011 federal census marked B.C.'s population at 4.4 million. The three commissioners had to account for population growth between the North Shore and Chilliwack, on Vancouver Island, and in the Okanagan and Kamloops areas.
MAP: Compare the existing and proposed boundaries
Here are the six new ridings:
- Vancouver --Granville
- Delta
- Mission--Matsqui
- Langley--Cloverdale
- Burnaby North--Seymour
- South Cowichan--Juan de Fuca
MAP: British Columbia
Large geographic ridings would remain in the north; namely, Skeena--Bulkley Valley, Prince George--Peace River, and Cariboo--Prince George. Other ridings will see major changes to their boundaries.
Burnaby--New Westminster would be renamed Burnaby South--Deer Lake with some alterations, and Powell River would be added to Vancouver Island North. Penticton would move from Okanagan-Coquihalla (now called Central Okanagan--Coquihalla) to B.C. Southern Interior -- to be renamed South Okanagan--West Kootenay.
MAP: Vancouver and environs
MAP: Victoria and environs
Public hearings are scheduled between Sept. 10 and Oct. 18.
(July 3, 2012)
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Nearly all of Manitoba’s 14 ridings will be adjusted if the commission’s plans are accepted.
Winnipeg South and Winnipeg South Centre would exchange some territory to allow for expected population growth in the former riding. Saint Boniface would also take in additional territory from Winnipeg South.
Winnipeg North would take in some neighbourhoods from Kildonan—St. Paul. Provencher, the most populous riding in the province, would give territory to neighbouring Portage-Lisgar. And the newly-renamed Dauphin—Sawn River—Neepawa would take in more southern communities.
MAP: Winnipeg
Further north, the Churchill riding (to be renamed Churchill—Keewatinook Aski) will grow even larger by taking six Interlake First Nation communities and a portion of Grahamdale from Selkirk-Interlake, which has the second-highest population.
MAP: Manitoba
MAP: Compare the existing and proposed boundaries
Only two ridings were left untouched, both in the provincial capital: Charleswood--St. James--Assiniboia and Winnipeg Centre.
Manitoba’s population has reached 1,208,268, and eight-per-cent increase over the past decade. That’s an average of 86,305 per riding.
(Aug. 9, 2012)
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A population shift to major urban centres has led to a proposed readjustment of New Brunswick's 10 federal ridings that would transfer some communities to more rural districts.
MAP: Compare the existing and proposed boundaries
A notable change is in the Moncton area, where the City of Dieppe would now be completely within the old Beauséjour riding -- with the new name of Beauséjour--Dieppe. Moncton-Riverview would remain as a separate riding.
MAP: Moncton
Fredericton would lose the following parishes and villages to surrounding ridings: Canning and Chipman (Fundy Royal), Maugerville, Northfield, Sheffield, and Minto (Tobique--Mactaquac), and Lincoln and Burton (New Brunswick Southwest).
Smaller changes are in store for Saint John, which would transfer part of Quispamsis to Fundy Royal but gain Cape Spencer.
Other changes include:
- Belledune transferred from Miramichi to Acadie--Bathurst
- Harcourt, Huskisson, Welford, and Richibucto Indian Reserve No. 15 from Beauséjour to Miramichi
- Portions of Upper Miramichi in Tobique-Mactaquac transferred from Tobique-Mactaquac to Miramichi
- Colborne and Durham from Miramichi to Madawaska--Restigouche
- Studholm and Norton from New Brunswick Southwest to Fundy Royal, which would be renamed Fundy--Quispamsis
- Portions of Kingsclear from New Brunswick Southwest to Fredericton
- Tobique--Mactaquac would be renamed Tobique--Saint John River Valley
The last census defined the provincial population at 751,171. Each of New Brunswick's 10 ridings is expected to be "as close as reasonably possible" to 75,117, though a 25-per-cent variance is allowed in either direction when there are "extraordinary circumstances."
The historical trend has been to assign one riding each to Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John, but a continual population shift to those three communities has forced a readjustment.
Public hearings are scheduled for Sept. 10 to 24 across the province.
(June 22, 2012)
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Newfoundland and Labrador is the first province to release proposed boundary adjustments for its ridings in the House of Commons.
While Labrador remains a single riding, the provinces other six seats would be altered to account for a population shift from the rest of the province to the Avalon Peninsula and St. John's.
MAP: Compare the existing and proposed boundaries
Avalon would take in all of Conception Bay South and portions of Paradise, to reduce the size of St. John's East -- which would be renamed St. John's North. St. John's South--Mount Pearl remains unchanged.
MAP: City of St. John's
Three new ridings would replace Humber--St. Barbe--Baie Verte, Bonavista--Gander--Grand Falls-Windsor, and Random-Burin-St. Georges.
Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte would lose the Baie Verte Peninsula but add Stephenville and the southwest coast to encompass the island's western portion. The new name would be Long Range Mountains.
Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor would lose the Bonavista North and Bonavista South regions but take in Baie Verte and the south coast area around Bay d'Espoir and the Connaigre Peninsula. The new name? Bay D'Espoir-Central-Notre Dame.
Random--Burin--St. George's would gain Bonavista North, Bonavista South, and western portions of the Avalon Peninsula. The new name would be Bonavista-Burin-Trinity.
MAP: Newfoundland and Labrador
New foundland and Labrador's public hearings are scheduled for July.
(May 25, 2012)
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Nova Scotia’s 11 ridings will be adjusted to allow for the continuing population shift from rural regions to Halifax, if the commission’s proposal goes forward.
The Halifax Regional Municipality grew at a faster pace than the rest of the province over the past decade. Halifax and Halifax West are currently the most populous ridings, at 10 and 16 per cent over the provincial average, respectively.
Three Halifax ridings, along with Cape Breton—Canso and Central Nova, would be redrawn, forcing adjustments to several others.
MAP: Nova Scotia
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour would lose the northern portion of Dartmouth to Sackville—Eastern Shore (to be renamed Sackville—Porters Lake). The latter riding would lose territory to Kings-Hants but gain portions of Bedford.
Halifax West would be reduced in size, with most of the extra land assigned to South Shore—St. Margaret’s.
MAP: Halifax
Cape Breton—Canso and Central Nova would both be enlarged to the west. The boundary between South Shore—St. Margaret’s and West Nova has also been adjusted.
Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley would be known simply as Cumberland—Colchester.
MAP: Compare the existing and proposed boundaries
Nova Scotia’s population was marked at 921,727 in the 2011 census, for an average of 83,793 residents per riding.
Public hearings are scheduled between Sept. 4 and Oct. 3.
(July 17, 2012)
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The bulk of Ontario's 15 new MPs would represent ridings in the Greater Toronto Area, if the proposed boundaries are accepted.
Brampton, Durham, Markham, and the City of Toronto would each receive two new ridings, with single districts added to Ajax, Barrie, Durham, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Milton, Mississauga, Ottawa, and York.
MAP: Compare the existing and proposed boundaries
MAP: Brampton and Mississauga
Ontario currently has 22 ridings deemed to be "underrepresented" because of population growth. The most glaring example is Oak Ridges--Markham, which has 228,997 residents according to the 2011 census.
Other changes include:
- Rural portions of Windsor--Tecumseh moved to the riding of Essex
- Part of London West moved to London--Fanshawe
- Fort Erie moved from Niagara Falls to the renamed Welland--Fort Erie riding
- Modifications of Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa ridings to account for population shifts
- Two eastern Ontario ridings adjusted from north-south to east-west boundaries, to be renamed Lanark--Frontenac--Hastings and Belleville--Napanee--Frontenac
- Ten seats would remain in northern Ontario, which saw a 0.8-per-cent population decline over the past decade. Only Sault Ste. Marie would be unchanged.
The 15 seats would be added to Ontario's current 106 members of the House of Commons. The current quota for each riding is 106,213.
Public hearings are scheduled from Oct. 9 to Nov. 15.
(Aug. 27, 2012)
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No changes have been recommended for PEI’s four federal ridings: Cardigan, Charlottetown, Egmont, and Malpeque.
PEI’s population was reported at 140,204 in the last census, for an average of 35,051 per riding.
Public hearings are scheduled for Oct. 9-17.
MAP: Prince Edward Island boundaries
(Aug. 9, 2012)
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The Montreal area would receive four new ridings, while the Gaspé region would lose an MP under redistribution plans released by Quebec's federal boundaries commission.
One riding would be to the south, two to the north, and one on the island of Montreal itself.
MAP: Montreal
Further east, Gaspêsie--Les Îles and Rimouski would replace Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, with some portions of the latter riding assigned to the new district of Elzéar--Bernier.
MAP: Eastern Quebec
Quebec was assigned three additional seats, bringing the province's total to 78. With a population of 7.9 million listed in the 2011 census, that averages out to 101,321 residents per riding.
MAP: Quebec
Public hearings are scheduled between Sept. 5 and Nov. 6.
(July 16, 2012)
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Saskatchewan’s mixed urban-rural ridings will be nearly eliminated under “significant” changes proposed by the boundary commission.
Only Regina Qu’Appelle, currently held by House Speaker Andrew Scheer, would remain as a mixed district among the province’s 14 ridings.
Saskatoon and Regina would receive three and two urban ridings, respectively. In the former, Saskatoon Centre--University, Saskatoon--Grasswood, and Saskatoon West, while in the latter, Regina--Lewvan and Wascana.
Another riding would be mainly urban (Prince Albert), while the other seven would encompass rural areas.
MAP: Saskatchewan
MAP: Regina
MAP: Saskatoon
MAP: Compare the existing and proposed boundaries
Saskatoon and Regina grew faster than the rest of the province over the past decade. The four fastest-growing ridings were of the mixed urban-rural variety: Blackstrap, Saskatoon—Humboldt, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, and Wascana.
Public hearings are scheduled for Sept. 17-Oct. 5.
Saskatchewan has a population of 1,033,381, as of the 2011 census, for an average of 73,813 per riding.
(Aug. 7, 2012)
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